Street food focus: Arcade Battersea

Henry Norman visits the new Battersea Power Station-based food court...

Arcade’s attempt to boost Battersea Power Station is initially impressive, arriving as it does boasting some 500 covers, 13 different cuisines, three restaurants and two bars. With its much larger layout eliminating one of my reservations with its central site on Tottenham Court Road – the somewhat baffling near segregation between seating and stalls – I enter the decommissioned destination with an open mind – and thankfully, as it transpires, an open wallet.

On arrival, somewhat counterintuitively, the much bigger interior makes for a far more relaxing atmosphere. This comes as a result of much of the seating being placed right in the central aisle, allowing the punters to actually mingle among the traders (surely one of the big attractions of this kind of dining in the first place).

One element that remains, however, is the at-table app-only ordering, and while the service is commendably quick, as is perhaps appropriate for the venue, it is keen on a charge. The price of not being able to serve yourself takes, say, a pint from £6.50 up to £7.31.

My other main memory of TCR is leaving still feeling hungry due to the disparity between dish size and price. Wary of this, I go straight for a ‘large plate’, of the shawarma persuasion, for £14. Now, what transpires is unarguably decent enough, with the bed of hummus being a particularly nice addition. However, the seven-inch plate’s worth of food only really begins to resemble (an admittedly meat-meagre) main with the addition of the fattoush salad for a further £5. As pleasant as this all is, there is nothing immediately obvious going on to justify the combined price of over £21 (once actually getting them both to the table has also been accounted for).

From here it seems the best solution is to just concentrate on carbs, first in the form of Hero’s impressively authentic Indian eats. And thankfully its tandoori paneer tikka kathi roll (£9) provides a taste of the sort of top-tier vegetarian fare its home country is famous for. Subtly spiced and with a deliciously buttery bread, this all somehow becomes even tastier following the addition of the side sauce of chutney.

Finally, to the most original and innovative sounding trader on the roster, Flat Bread by Thomas Straker. From the impressively intriguing and inventive menu, we opt for the Nduja, smoked barrata, honey and lemon creation (£11). The flat-out winner on the evening, this dish does the most to dismiss the still somewhat lacking quantity via its sheer quality, with the spice from the meat contrasting perfectly with the sharp of the citrus.

Having now spent £65, we depart with one plus being that we both still feel seriously unbloated – if you can attain that feeling here you’re a better/richer man than I. In these inflated times, it will be interesting to see if, at these prices, Arcade can help to energise the Power Station project.

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